Today there is a wide range of products on the market facilitating the temporary application of decorative images to the skin. The same are generally commercially manufactured using a screen printing process, and may comprise temporary tattoos for children or other products meant for adult consumers and more in the realm of jewelry, however these methods can not be manufactured at point of service with variable data input. Products for creating homemade temporary tattoos are also available on the market, generally centering on the use of a computer and an inkjet or laser printer to print an image on a specialized sheet designed to receive the image from the inkjet printer and allow its transfer to a second adhesive bearing sheet to allow application to the skin of the wearer. In principal, such specialized sheets may be used to receive images from inkjet or laser printers, however, home systems use printers, toners and inks are not safe for skin contact.
Temporary tattoos are well known for aesthetic purposes, and generally include an ink transfer. Examples of such temporally tattoos are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,898,357, 5,421,765, 5,578,353, and 5,601,859, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,864 to Humason et al. provides general background on the structure of temporary tattoos, as well as fabrication materials and methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,786 to Cromett (Mattel) issued Jul. 24, 2001 shows a user-created temporary tattoo structure and method of creating a custom temporary tattoo using a PC and printer, in which the user prints an image on a coated sheet, then covers the image with a film, attaches the film/image/coating laminate to skin, and removes a backing sheet to release the image on the skin. This allows a user to create an image on a computer, print the image using a computer printer, and then safely apply the image to human skin.
The use of cutaneously supported images as identifiers together with cooperating devices, systems, apparatus and methods in tracking, for the purposes of the security, safety, billing and other servicing of patrons at travel, recreational and other facilities, such as an airline terminal, resort, convention center, hospital or hotel, is disclosed in published U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. US20160103925, US20160103962 and US20160104062.
Despite the merits of the concept, conventional temporary tattoos have drawbacks. They are semi-translucent and print information appearing thereon can be difficult to read, especially on dark skin. A more opaque skin applique with high contrast information would be more desirable. These commercially made tattoos are also done using a large screen printing or digital printing process that is done in a factory or industrial setting. This does not make it possible to generate the tattoo with readable information both visually and machine read in real time at point of service with variable data input. Desktop printers can create temporary tattoos at home, but the ink being used for the at home printers are not safe and the ability to print with a contrasting background is only available in the laser printer market, and in this sector the toners are not safe for skin contact. Moreover, temporary tattoos are not sometimes durable enough. In a protected environment it can last a few days. In a theme park the pigments can last at most a few hours in a water park or at the beach and often it lasts a few minutes before beginning to degrade.
In addition, many temporary tattoos typically must be wetted with a warm wet sponge, washcloth or paper towel, and then dried thoroughly. This can take several minutes and is not easy to do with small, excited children seeking to enter an amusement park, and the parent must have access to a restroom inasmuch as the water and sponge cannot be included in the packaging. Using temporary tattoos in this environment can slow the admission process thereby making it operationally undesirable.
Temporary tattoos may be allowed to remain on the skin for various lengths of time, ranging from just a few minutes to several days, depending on the whims of the wearer of the tattoo, the amount of washing and rubbing to which the tattoo is exposed, the amount of hair on the individual, the amount of sweat produced while being warn and the durability of the tattoo. Because of the potentially extended time of contact between the tattoo and a wearer of the tattoo, there is a realistic concern that the inks, toners or other materials used could be absorbed through the skin, resulting in possible injury to the wearer of the tattoo. Accordingly, the construction of temporary tattoos according to the prior techniques has been limited to the use of carefully selected, non-toxic inks. There is a need for temporary tattoos that may be made safely with a variety of inks, including those inks that may not be completely non-toxic, as may be found in some computer printers which durable enough to sustain long term wear, the elements and the hair and sweat of the skin and which can be manufactured at the point of service using variable data. Variable data is data that is not known prior to the manufacturing process. This data is usually discovered at point of service and can be unique and different for each individual.
There is a need for a printing system to print out a frangible, non toxic skin applied (cutaneous in the manner of a temporary tattoo) information device using a desktop sized printer which allows the device to be applied to an individual at the point of service with variable data for applications such as hotel industry, medical industry, travel industry and other such industries where on the spot temporary identification is desired. Point of services implies the device must be the appropriate size to fit into the environment of application, must be generated using variable data and applied in reasonable time frame as to not disrupt the current operations. This device must have visual and machine-readable information, which will serve as a repository for information and a unique identifier.